1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a computer system, such as a server-based computing (SBC) system, configured to cause all of the applications input and output at a client personal computer (PC) to run on a server and manage all of the created files on the server side in a client-server system connected via a network, such as a local area network (LAN).
2. Description of the Related Art
Each of the individual PC terminals connected to a network, such as an in-house LAN, runs a document creation application or a table creation application independently and creates various files. The various files are stored in the storage unit of the PC terminal or in an external storage medium, such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or a small semiconductor memory, or are transferred to and stored in a storage unit managed by a server on the network.
In such a conventional client-server system, since the created files are managed in each PC terminal itself, if the PC terminal has been lost or removed illegally and fallen into a third party's hands, there is a risk that the stored files might be read and important information or classified information might be leaked.
Moreover, when each PC terminal runs the application independently, the work of updating, changing, and adding the application has to be done on a PC terminal basis, making management troublesome, which results in an increase in the cost.
To overcome this drawback, a recent client-server system has introduced a server-based computing (SBC) system (thin client system) configured to run all the applications input and output at each PC terminal (or client PC) and manage all the resulting created files on the server side.
With the SBC system, since the application process is carried out, the resulting files are managed on the server side according to the input operation on the PC terminal, and only the resulting display screen data is transferred in bitmap form to the PC terminal which then displays the data, none of the data produced by the application process on the server side is left on the PC terminal side and the PC terminal just functions as an input/output terminal. Even if the PC terminal has been lost or removed illegally and fallen into a third party's hands, none of the files are read out, making the client-server system very effective in terms of security.
Moreover, the work of updating, changing and adding the applications has only to be done on the server alone, making the management very easy, which is beneficial.
In such an SBC system, however, since the load on the server inevitably increases, the number of PC terminals one server manages is limited. For example, a server is installed in each section on a department and section basis on an in-house LAN.
In this case, it is inevitable that the PC terminal side will request not only to connect to a server in the section to which the PC terminal belongs and use an application functioning on the server but also to connect to one other server and use an application functioning on the one other server.
In the conventional SBC system, however, to connect one of the system's own PC terminals to the desired server, it is necessary to specify and input an IP address, connection information on the desired server. For this reason, the user must know the IP addresses of all the servers on the network.
There is still another problem: each time the user selects and uses an application on each server, the user has to specify and input the IP address of each server to connect with the server again.